Posted by MikeT23 on 8/14/2017 4:43:00 PM (view original):
Posted by Benis on 8/14/2017 3:58:00 PM (view original):
I guess in Mike's universe he would have preferred to spare the 600,000 lives and have a USA and a CSA where they still force human beings into a live of bondage. Cool stuff bro.
I've said, repeatedly, that I think Lincoln could have waited a tad longer than 1 month after taking office to declare war on his own people. You know, like negotiate or something.
Damn, you're setting retard records in this thread. Of course, if you read three posts before jumping in feet first, that's likely to happen.
Here's what I think could have been done: Abandon the unfinished Fort Sumter(that blocked Charleston harbor and therefore could stop import/export of goods), sit down, as President, with the leaders of the seceded states to find out what they needed to return to the fold and, if their terms were unacceptable, do what was necessary to preserve the United States of America. He didn't. He tried to resupply Ft Sumter with food, ammunition and men. And, much to everyone's surprise, SC didn't want that to happen.
http://san.beck.org/LincolnCivilWar.html
In his inaugural address President Lincoln warned against a civil war while promising that he would not invade the South. Yet he indicated that the Federal Government would continue to occupy its property in the South and would attempt to collect “duties and imposts.” He promised he would not impose “obnoxious strangers” in Federal offices in hostile regions. The mails would continue unless repelled. He called for “a peaceful solution of the national troubles and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.” However, in his view this came to mean only by the retention of the states in the Union.
Early in his presidency Lincoln rejected the option of letting the southern states withdraw peacefully. He took the position that secession is illegal and that the use of force against the Federal Government was rebellion and treason against the United States. He refused to recognize the Confederate States as legal entities and would not let anyone in his administration negotiate with their representatives. He also rejected an offer of mediation by Napoleon III of France. In March 1861 Jefferson Davis sent peace commissioners to Washington with an offer to pay for all Federal property in the South and to take on the southern portion of the national debt. However, Lincoln refused even to acknowledge them, thus blocking any attempt to resolve the conflicts by peaceful means. He took the hard line that the southern states must return to the Union. Unless they did so, or unless he relinquished the forts and tariffs, it became inevitable that the two sides would fight. His position has been compared to that of the British empire, which demanded that their American colonists pay their taxes.
Lincoln was careful to avoid beginning the war with an attack. However, he managed to instigate an attack on Fort Sumter by refusing to negotiate with South Carolina or to withdraw Federal forces from there. He informed the government of South Carolina that he was sending in supplies to his besieged men with the warning that he would retaliate against an attack.
I'm not reading all that.